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This is a peculiar release. Crest of the Martyrs is my favourite album by Twisted Tower Dire, so this certainly caught my eye. I’m intentionally not rating this since there’s a finished product that’s been available for nearly 20 years that sounds better. This release is more of a curiosity than anything else and will likely appeal more to the completist fan than the "regular Joe" (who should really check out the studio album instead). Unsurprisingly the songs don’t sound quite fine-tuned and are a bit rough around the edges (sometimes very much so). You’ll definitely recognize the original album no matter what, but there’s much missing. Really the interest here is to hear how much the songs evolved from their demo versions to the polished, finished product. Unless you want to find out (and, ideally, have the studio album to compare the demos against), you should check out the finished product. It’s interesting, but far from essential and I wonder if it was necessary.